The Romanian Cultural Institute in London supports the concerts of the Romanian band Shukar Collective and DJ Nico de Transilvania in London and Brighton (as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival).

The Brighton event will start early with award-winning Romanian short films and Interactive art, then live music with Shukar Collective. Moving into cutting-edge electro breaks & Balkan beats with Adam Freeland, Apparat & Skate DJ team (Shitkatapult) & Nico de Transilvania. And from Los Angeles, (Thee)Mike B with DJ AM and Steve Aoki. More details from Marine Parade, our partners.

Shukar Collective is a colourful vibrant mixture of new generation sound and traditional gypsy music.

The initial band Shukar founded by Napoleon, Tamango and Clasic played “ursari” music (ursar means ‘bear tamer’ or ‘bear handler’) using spoons, wooden barrels or darabouka to create a powerful and urgent sound that is emotional and soulful at the same time.
The Shukar Collective idea came up after celebrated Romanian DJs Lucian Stan (DJ Vasile) and Dan Handrabur (DJ Dreamdoktor) heard original Shukar tracks and saw the band perform in a Bucharest jazz club. The concept behind the project was to reorchestrate these fabulous folkloric pieces using modern technologies, while preserving and emphasizing their original sound.
Shukar Collective, whose debut album Urban Gypsy has received huge press acclaim worldwide, will release their second album, Rromatek in 2007.

2010 - stage 3.0 comes with a new formula based on the cooperation between the 2 founding members, DJ Vasile and Dreamdoktor, and several new artists: Ema Deica, the only vocal, DJ Rolf and Tom Brindus (who's been the VJ of the band from the very beginning). While the first 2 albums explore the fusion between electronic music and gypsy ancestral traditions, the ongoing project uses various urban styles such as hip hop, drum and bass or jazz, illustrated with lyrics in the Romani, French, English and Romanian languages. Basically, the project aims to be a transition from old to new in electro gypsy music, which defines the concept of Shukar Collective. Besides music, Ema Deica also comes up with traditional and modern gypsy body expression instances.
Lucian Stan